bigbangisbaebae

[bigbangisbaebae]

Reblog if you support squishy bellies, have a squishy belly, or have the desire to summon satan

[bigbangisbaebae]

Thinking about Kaidan Alenko, the character who was put into combat training as a teenager because of powers he did not choose, who killed an abusive authority figure when he was only trying to protect someone else, who entered the military because he never had any other option because of you're biotic and not asari you're a soldier, who's implants to hone the ability he never chose gave massive headaches, and that could've given him a lot worse, who always does everything by the book because he knows what can happen if he doesn't keep control, who admits the love of another person makes him feel human.

You know. The boring squadmate.

[bigbangisbaebae]

It's kind of a bummer, but it looks like Shenko (FemShep x Alenko) is not among the most popular ships in the ME trilogy. Is it because Kaidan is simply too mature and well-grounded for most players to appreciate as a romantic partner or what?

I think you hit the nail on the head there, anon. The most popular criticism I see for Kaidan is “whiny,” which drives me crazy but doesn’t actually *surprise* me. Unfortunately we still live in a world that has not normalized an openly emotional man, which is exactly what Kaidan is.

Even before Shepard establishes a romance with Kaidan in Mass Effect 1, he shares some pretty dark things from his past and is open about having baggage. While more popular characters like Garrus also have a seedy history, Garrus tempers that with humor and a “bad boy” attitude that makes it fun. Meanwhile Kaidan is very sensitive and doesn’t really show any kind of cockiness or swagger until ME3. 

But throughout all three games he is open about his issues and I don’t think that’s something a lot of people are used to. Conversations with Kaidan’s character are deep but they don’t have the memorable humor of Garrus or Wrex. When he’s sad, you know it. And even on missions his dialogue frequently puts his emotions on display.

But there are people who like the strong, sensitive type. So why do people who like emotional characters still hate on Kaidan? To me that ties into Kaidan’s willingness to challenge Shepard and criticize her. I think that many people use fiction, even the storylines of games (maybe especially the storylines of games) as escapism. In games and in fiction we can do things we could never do in life, be people we could never be. Most notably for saps like me, we can experience romantic relationships that are much larger than life. So I think a lot of people look for narratives where the romantic relationship offers something that would be almost impossible in real life: a person who is unflinchingly, unconditionally dedicated to us literally no matter what. 

This might seem like I am going off the rails but bear with me. Take Twilight for example. When I was young I read the first book and was totally swept up. Not because I thought it was a particularly good story, but because I projected on the empty shell that is Bella Swan and imagined myself being doted on by a sexy vampire who cared about nothing but me haha. I think this story was so popular with teen girls because they fantasize about the idea of a partner who is obsessively in love with them, like Edward was. Obviously by my later teens I realized how toxic and ridiculous Edward is, but I think the reason it is so popular is part of the reason Kaidan is not. 

Some people hated that Kaidan didn’t just stay hopelessly attached to Shepard even in ME2 after she died and was with Cerberus. Kaidan has the tact and backbone to adhere to his principles, he doesn’t give them up just because Shepard violated them by joining a terrorist organization. When she dies he allowed himself to heal like a real life man would. But people probably wanted Kaidan to pine after her and never move on, like an Edward character, like a perfect, idealized boyfriend who lives for only his lover.

I don’t think there is anything bad about wanting that–fiction fulfills a lot of functions for a lot of people, and characters like that have their place. But Kaidan isn’t a character like that. He’s a unique, mature, (like you said) grounded man and his relationship with Shepard adds to his life. It doesn’t define it. I guess people wanted someone who was more of a tropey hero figure and they got Kaidan. I think that if the trilogy started now, in 2017, he would be more popular, because I think our society is becoming a little more accepting and that sensitivity in a man isn’t considered an anomaly as much as it once was. BioWare is actively helping that in my opinion, with more and more interesting characters in every new installment. 

Oh, and I guess another reason shenko isn’t popular now is because of Andromeda. New ships take precedence. But I can say that even before Andromeda it never had the popularity of other things I shipped, like Cullen and Trevelyan from Dragon Age. I can see that just based on trends on AO3 because I started a shenko fic (that I later abandoned) awhile back.

Anyway, regardless of his popularity Kaidan has always been and will always be one of my favorite fictional characters in any medium, and his romance arc in the Mass Effect games is one of my favorite romantic stories of all time. It never fails to make me ugly cry haha, no matter how many playthroughs I complete. 

Thanks so much for this ask, anon. I am guessing based on the pacing of these asks, you may be the same anon who has kindly been sending me things for the past couple days. If so, feel free to come off of anon, because you like my two favorite OTPs of all time and that means we should be friends haha

[bigbangisbaebae]

REBLOG IF IT IS OKAY TO COME INTO YOUR INBOX AND SAY THE RANDOMEST SHIT I CAN THINK OF BECAUSE I REALLY WANT TO INTERACT WITH YOU.

[bigbangisbaebae]

“Go crazy, into the night Back to the future sexy.” Retro Future (2018), Triple H.

[bigbangisbaebae]

COME AT ME JIYONG, I’LL TAKE YOUR BLACK CARD TOO

So everyone is making these quizzes, so,, what kpop boy should you beat up 

[bigbangisbaebae]

yixing every chance he gets: i love my group. my group called exo. e-x-o. exo. the group that i am in. exo, the group that debuted in 2012. i love my members. the members of exo. i love them so much. i love exo. i love them. love e-x-o, the group where i am a member <3

[bigbangisbaebae]

I miss sundae credit 

[bigbangisbaebae]

abc’s of Kang Daesung 

A - Angel

[bigbangisbaebae]

sundae~

[bigbangisbaebae]

I HAVE NEVER BEEN LESS SORRY IN MY ENTIRE LIFE! YOU’RE SO WELCOME!

Kaidan and James as British police officers is my life right now, don’t take it away from me. *curls into corner*

[bigbangisbaebae]

maknae line having the same fear

[bigbangisbaebae]

our cutest jjong-d 🥰

[bigbangisbaebae]

© ztothek | ❀

[bigbangisbaebae]

Dahyun :: ‘More&More’ Special Live 

[bigbangisbaebae]

[bigbangisbaebae]

Hyolyn ♡ ’Juicy - Doja Cat’ Dance video ፧20200802፧